Bengaluru: IT Czar Azim Premji, who has donated about $8.5 billion--almost half of his stake holding in Wipro to charitable causes, has appealed to the rich Indians to be more forthcoming in giving away their wealth in a poverty-ridden country .
He was addressing the students of Indian Institute of Management's first global alumni conclave and leadership summit IIMBUE, on Saturday.
“A philanthropic mindset should be imbibed in all from a young age and rich Indians should be more forthcoming in giving away their wealth in a poverty-ridden country,” the wipro founder said.
Premji, who is the first Indian to sign the ‘Giving Pledge' sponsored by billionaires Warren Buffett and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates to invite the world's wealthiest to donate a majority of their wealth to charity, said that despite having large-scale projects the intended effect cannot be reached at micro-levels owing to dependency on executing agencies.
"The Americans are absolute leaders in philanthropy because their families are larger in terms of interrelationship and wealth sharing. However, a majority of wealthy Indians believe in leaving their wealth for the next generation, which is a deterrent," he told a packed audience.
Premji also applauded the new generation of wealthy professionals, who he said were more forthcoming in contributing their time and money to philanthropic causes unlike the previous one.
Calling his mother as his biggest influence philanthropy, Premji said , his mother was a doctor who never practised medicine but founded an orthopaedic hospital in Mumbai for children suffering from cerebral palsy. She was the chairperson when she was 27 till the time her health started failing at 76. She had to raise money to fund the hospital as the government funds never came on time."
Premji, whose Azim Premji Foundation works to improve the quality of education across many government schools in India.
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